The Scottish Thistle and The English Rose by HaylsValo

Chapter 31: Fear and Loathing

Chibs couldn't believe he was here, off a dirt road on the highway so that he wouldn't be seen by anyone, waiting for June Stahl and a bunch of other goddamn ATF agents so that he could make a deal with them that would see him hand over Jimmy O in exchange for his clubs freedom and the safety and protection of his girls. He hated himself, loathed what he was doing but hated and loathed even more so the idea that Jimmy O might hurt, lay his hands on or even kill Kerrianne and Boo. Protecting them was the most important thing in the world to Chibs, and if betraying his club and his brothers was the price he had to pay for their safety then so be it. Even if Boo ended up leaving him, absolutely disgusted by his betrayal, as a result... Stahl and the other agents arrived not long after Chibs did, which the Scotsman was rather thankful for as it gave him less time to agonise over what he was doing. He went to push his sunglasses up as Stahl approached him, but thought better off it when he realised his eyes were glazed with tears. He was damned it he was going to let Stahl see the tears in his eyes, if he was going to show her even an ounce of weakness, because she'd take full advantage of that and play Chibs' emotions against him.

"This is how it works; you do not touch SAMCRO." Chibs drawled seriously as Stahl and a few other agents approached him. He didn't want to give her the chance to speak first, didn't want to allow her to opportunity to manipulate him and play on the uncertainty of what he was doing.

"I don't want the Sons, I want the IRA." Stahl said simply, folding her arms across her chest. She seemed more than a little amused that she'd been able to get a Son to turn on the Irish, in fact she seemed rather smug about that. Chibs hated that, hated her, but his betrayal of course was nothing to do with her and her jumping him as he went to see Fiona, but was because of Jimmy O and the McBastards threat's against Kerrianne and Boo.

"Zobelle; the assault charges against the club. Drop them." Chibs went on before Stahl could say another word. Betraying SAMCRO, his brothers, his family, was the last thing Chibs ever wanted to do and he hoped that by getting their assault charges dropped – charges that could see Jax and the others locked up for as many as 14 years – he could ease the sting of his betrayal somewhat and, if nothing else, ease the weight on his conscience.

"Well that's not easy." Stahl drawled, scowl forming on her lips. She'd known of course, that the Scotsman would ask for the Son's immunity and to have the assault charges against them dropped – these bikers were so damn predictable - and had already set the ball rolling to make sure the Sons of Anarchy weren't charged for their assault on Zobelle's church group but was already coming up against a brick wall. The case hadn't even been presented before the DA's office yet and there was no way she could have the charges dropped before that happened.

"Then we are done talking." Chibs said without hesitation, moving to walk away. There would be no deal without immunity for SAMCRO, the assault charges being dropped and protection for his girls. And he wouldn't give away anything of use until the paperwork had been drawn up either. If he was going to turn rat, Chibs wanted to make damn well sure that his girls were protected and safe, and that his club stayed out of jail. Chibs wasn't the sort of man to turn rat for no good reason and he'd do whatever it took to make sure that didn't happen, even if that meant meeting with Stahl and her ATF cronies again and again until their deal was how he wanted it.

"Alright.. I'll... I'll get into it." Stahl promised before Chibs could walk off. She couldn't let him walk away; she needed him if she wanted to be able to nail Jimmy O and the rest of the IRA. She'd been working on the case for months now and with the end in sight, the arrests of Jimmy O and The Hayes on the horizon, she couldn't risk anything that would see the case fall apart. Stahl knew that bringing down the IRA would put her so high up in the ATF she'd never have to worry about anything again; she'd have job security for life and would have more money coming in than she knew what to do with. But to get there, she needed the goddamn Scotsman's and so she had to play by his rules. For now anyway. "What else?"she asked, knowing damn well that there'd be more. When criminals like Telford turned rat, they wanted to get as much out of the deal as they possibly could. It was disgusting; but Stahl didn't care much really. As long as she got the Irish... The Sons she could get at a later date on a different charge. She knew this for certain. They'd soon slip up and do something that would allow her to bring them all down.